Larry - The tournament we're fishing is taking off from Newton Stuart South...do you think it would be wise to fish up river or would bigger bags come from the main lake? If we would go up river we'd probably stay there most of the day, due to the slow travel back and forth. On a side note, I have a shih tzu as well but I've never had him out on the boat with me while I fish. He did go with me when I tested the boat out before I bought it, I thought he was gonna jump in trying to get a drink. Does yours do well in the boat? I've always been afraid of him wanting to get overboard and having to try and get him.